Precinct 9
by winkieprince
Summary: Modern Detective AU. Det Elphaba Thropp is smart, confident and doing just fine as Precinct 9's ace detective - that is, until a series of mysterious abductions brought in the Emerald City Bureau of Investigation (aka Gale Force), and she is forced to partner with the insufferably cocky Agent Tiggular.
1. Precinct 9

**Precinct 9**

 **Summary: Det Elphaba Thropp is smart, confident and doing just fine as Precinct 9's ace detective - that is, until a series of mysterious abductions brought in the Emerald City Bureau of Investigation (aka Gale Force), and she is forced to partner with the insufferably cocky Agent Tiggular.**

* * *

No.

They can't do this to her.

 _Nononononononono—_

"Chief, you can't let them—"

"Ah, Thropp. I see you've heard the news." Chuffery exhaled deeply. He could already feel it in his bones – all hell was about to break loose. Every time Elphaba was in his office, she was either yelling at him or being deathly quiet. Either way, it's never good when she has to come find him at his desk.

A small crowd had gathered outside his office and he sighed again.

Elphaba may have hated the limelight portion of being the Detective with the highest case-solved rate, but she certainly commanded the attention even as she rejected it.

"We don't have a choice, Thropp. Abductions fall under Bureau jurisdiction – especially one that involves a high ranking officer from the Emerald City military."

"It's _my_ case. The file came to me, it was assigned to me and if I have anything to say about it – it _will_ be _closed_ by me." She said through gritted teeth. If there was anything she hated more than religion, it was getting her cases re-assigned, or in this case – _shared_.

"The case is still ours. ECPD Precinct 9 will still be the lead in this case. It just so happens that an agent from the Gale Force would be partnering with you. He's just here to help, really. We could use the Gale Force's funding and expertise on this."

"I don't need their stinkin' help."

"De-tec-tive Thropp. There is nothing I can do about this." Chuffery shouted angrily. He hated having to come to this, but Elphaba's insubordination was getting ridiculous. "Now, Elphie. I respect you, and your work ethics, very deeply. As your friend, I'm going to have to tell you to deal with this professionally. As your Precinct Chief, I'm going to let you off with a warning. You don't get to come barging in and demanding things without consequences for your actions."

Elphaba frowned deeply – obviously still itching to snap back at him. But ultimately, she chose not to say anything and simply bit the inside of her cheeks, forcing herself not to burst into strings of profanity.

Finally, after a beat, Chuffery sighed.

"If there's nothing else, Detective, would you please return to your desk and brief your team. We need to find Dane Cherrystone before he turns up in a body bag."

* * *

"Hey, boss lady. What's this I hear about having to share our case notes with a Gale Force agent?"

Avaric Tenmeadews walked over to Elphaba's desk and folded his thick arms across his chest. Elphaba glanced up at him with narrowed eyes – still ticked off by her conversation with Chuffery.

"And where did you hear that?"

"Your beautiful screaming voice coming from Chuffery's office." Avaric remarked sarcastically. "So what's the deal? Does the GF agent have full reign? Are you still my boss?"

"Where's Boq? Don't you two come in a set?"

"He got a call from his friend in Vice who was running the hooker's deets we found in our victim's wallet." Avaric said off-handedly. "If we're lucky, she's could be the last person to see Dane Cherrystone and give us a description to work with."

Elphaba raised a brow, confused. "Couldn't he have done that over the phone? We do have these things on our desks for a reason, y'know."

Avaric scoffed, "Don't you know? Finnegan's got a crush on the new detective downstairs. He's hanging around vice every chance he's got – and really, I admire him for that. Their coffee tastes like ass–"

"—it's a lot better now. They replaced the old coffee machine - the new one's got 3 settings."

"Boq! Welcome back." Elphaba greeted sarcastically. "Remember what I said about the buddy system?"

"Yeah, yeah." Boq waved his hand dismissively. The stocky munchkin stepped over to Avaric's side and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. "So what's new? I heard that we should be expecting a visit from the Gale Force."

Elphaba furrowed her brows and shot a look at a snickering Avaric. "And where did _you_ hear that?"

"Overheard it from Detective Cunningham's desk on my way here."

"How did he—"

All conversation ceased when a man in a crisp black suit appeared from the lift landing. Elphaba's eyes had easily spotted him as he glanced about and finally seemed to notice her in the sea of regular coloured people.

It was him.

It had to be.

He was a tall sort, with lightly tanned skin and short, russet hair that was combed back neatly. Judging from the double takes from the women and the irritated staring from the men, Elphaba assumed that he would be what most people considered 'good-looking'.

Not her though.

She thought he looked too smug to be attractive.

The agent walked over to her desk as Avaric and Boq stood aside. Avaric didn't look very happy – but Elphaba had attributed that to the fact that all the female attention seemed to have been redirected to the tanned stranger instead of him. Boq simply looked disinterested.

"Detective Thropp?" He asked, and reached out with a hand. She assumed that he was waiting on her to stand for him, so she simply stayed seated. He raised a brow, but quickly shrugged away whatever comment he might've had.

He retracted his hand and simply turned to Avaric and Boq.

"I'm Special Agent Tiggular from the Emerald City Bureau of Investigation."

"Gale Force." Boq commented, shrugging. Avaric sniggered.

Agent Tiggular chose not to respond, and simply continued with what he had to say. His eyes were soley focused on Elphaba. "I'm here to assist with your investigation, Detectives. Not to steal your case, or to steamroll over your authority."

"We'll see about that." She said, stopping her work and looking up at him. Eyes, the colour of emeralds, stared right back at her. Pretty, she thought, but the rest of him gave off an air of cockiness. It was the way he stood, and that smug little smile – she figured that he was probably one of those men who had the world at his fingertips.

Elphaba stood, and she realized that she was only a little shorter than him. Pity. If he had been shorter, she could've easily intimidated him into submission.

"I've heard of you. Tiggular – as in Special Agent Fiyero Tiggular, the youngest Gale Force agent to have risen up to S.A this quickly in recent history. The last agent to have done that retired 5 years ago, as the Chief of the Emerald City Bureau of Investigations."

Fiyero let out a small laugh, and smiled. "Wow. You seem to know a lot about me, Detective. Are you a fan?"

Boq quickly pulled his lips shut tight as he attempted to keep himself from laughing, while Avaric rolled his eyes – again, annoyed that his place as the suave and cocky detective was taken over by Fiyero.

"Not really." Elphaba smiled, almost arrogantly. "Men like you are always lacking when it comes to things that are actually important." Her eyes quickly flicked down, and then up again to meet his. It was a fast motion, but she knew that he'd caught that.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Fiyero replied, his voice had an odd, husky tone that unsettled Elphaba. She frowned, but refused to step away even when he closed into her personal space.

The air between them was fraught with meaning, and neither would back down. It was this moment that both Detective and Agent knew that this partnership was going to end in a bloodbath. He was standing so close to her, that even as he exhaled, she could smell a hint of mint from his breath.

"The case notes, please?" He asked politely.

Elphaba stared him down, her lips tight. Her face betrayed nothing. She could almost start to see the little flashes of irritation in his emerald green eyes.

Avaric grumbled, and slapped the file against Fiyero's chest, forcing him to step away from Elphaba. "Here's your stinkin' case notes. Now if you'll excuse us, we actually do work here on the Homicide floor."

"Homicide? Who's the victim? I was only aware of the abduction of Colonel Cherrystone."

"What, did you screw the wrong person in the Bureau or something? It's like you don't even know what's happening." Avaric snickered, and folded his arms. "Dane Cherrystone was only discovered to have been taken when we found the body of a Jane Doe in the alleyway, between the _Ruby Bar_ and _Tuxan Lounge_."

"The crime scene was riddled with bullet holes and a very distinct skid mark. We're running the tyre's make as we speak." Boq added helpfully.

"Maybe we should find a more private place to catch me up?"

Fiyero exhaled sharply, as if trying to calm himself. There was something about him that rubbed Elphaba the wrong way however. Despite his controlled exterior, there seemed to be something about the way he behaved that made her think that he might've been _pretending_ to have his shit together.

"Meeting room B." Elphaba commanded. Avaric and Boq quickly grabbed their files off their desks and made their way towards the cluster of meeting rooms towards the back of the office. Their many years of working under Elphaba had imparted some important rules that they were – frankly – too scared to break. Boq even had them scribbled down on a piece of note paper in red ink.

One. If she told them to do something, they could complain all they want but they had to get right on it. Elphaba was the boss.

Two. Avaric is not to talk to any female witnesses or persons of interest without supervision from either Boq or Elphaba.

Three. Obligations to pay for 'vinkun take-away Mondays' rotates every week. Stop being a stingy ass, Avaric.

"So. Ruby Bar and Tuxan Lounge. They're located in the lower Ruby District, isn't it?" Fiyero asked as the team settled inside the meeting room. "Are we sure that this isn't just a gang hit?"

Elphaba motioned at Boq to close the door as she sat directly opposite to Fiyero.

"Ballistics don't come back until tomorrow, but our on-scene techs told us that based on the autopsy report, the locations of the casings and the blood splatter analysis, every shot on the Jane Doe was intentional and calculated – Not exactly the M.O for the gangs in the lower Ruby District. The bullet holes littering the crime scene were from a previous incident in that alleyway… It's a rough neighbourhood."

She pulled out the crime scene photos where the body was found and slid with over to Fiyero. He reached over the scratched up pinewood table and frowned thinly at the sight of the gore.

"Knees, thigh, shoulder, jugular." He muttered as his eyes scanned across the photo of the Jane's autopsy. "You can tell the order by the haemorrhaging and blood pooling… He wanted her to suffer. She was tortured before she was killed."

"At this point, it's safe to assume that Cherrystone was either restrained or knocked out." She pulled out another series of crime scene photos with markings on the photocopies, indicating the potential scenario. "The vehicle was there, facing outwards for a fast getaway. Based on the width of the skids, we can assume that it's at least the size of a van. From the looks of it, the vehicle was probably already parked there when Cherrystone had come out to meet the Jane."

"How did the ECPD come to the conclusion that the Colonel was present in this crime scene?"

Elphaba gave a look, irritated by the implication behind Fiyero's question. He seemed a little taken aback by her – which only meant that he hadn't actually meant any harm.

Avaric was the one to reply.

"His wallet was found chucked in a puddle of vomit, behind that dumpster, over there." He pointed at the green monstrosity that leaned against the red bricked wall, towards the dead-end in the alleyway. "The wallet was clean, except for the vomit on the bottom. We're certain that Cherrystone had been snatched here."

"That," Elphaba added, "and because we found specks of blood that didn't belong to our Jane. When CSI found the wallet, we ran the blood against the sample data the Colonel had in the system, and of course, it came back positive."

"So Cherrystone was attacked, and then abducted, while the Jane stood there and watched? This must've been a team then. There's no way that a single man or woman could attack a man as large as the Colonel while handling the Jane." Fiyero frowned thinly as he tried to fill in the blanks.

"Our theory is that they were hiding in the van, heard the Colonel and the Jane, popped out, one of them attacks Cherrystone, the other handles the Jane. Maybe shoots her in the knees to prevent her from running off."Avaric walked over to the water dispenser and poured one for himself. The sound of water in this tense environment was foreign to their ears.

"Have you guys looked into why the Colonel was meeting the Jane in the first place? You have confirmation that she's a street walker?" Fiyero glanced over to Elphaba, who simply nodded towards Boq.

"I just came back from a visit with vice this morning." He said with a shrug. "The girl has no name, but she's been spotted around the circuit. She only seem to work occasionally, and she never talks to the other girls working the same street."

"No friends, no family. Transient." Avaric made a popping noise with his lips, which seemed to unsettle Fiyero.

Nobody spoke for a little while and Elphaba sighed. It would take the agent some time to process all that information, and she didn't have time to sit around, babysitting the Bureau's favorite boy toy.

"Boq and Avaric would be working to track the make and model of the vehicle. And I'll be headed out to speak to the Colonel's family." She leaned over the table and collected all the case notes into the file.

Fiyero stood from his seat and reached over to help her. Elphaba coiled away from his presence.

"Did I do something to offend you, Detective?" He raised a brow at her reaction.

"Just, stay out of my way." She grunted and quickly swept the files into her arms and left.

Fiyero watched her walk away, utterly confused and curious. He turned to Boq and Avaric. "Does she hate the agency or something?"

Avaric scoffed and walked away, ignoring Fiyero, and Boq was the one to reply him. "No sir, I think she just hates _you_."

* * *

 **A/N** I'm still currently working on _Building Bridges_ but something popped into my head while watching the latest episode of Criminal Minds - a modern Detective AU with our favorite charmed circle :) _Building Bridges_ take priority, of course, but I've been itching to write something a little more action/adventure orientated :P

It probably wouldn't be a super long series, and I would probably keep the chapters to a 3k average.  
Let me know how this first chapter sits with you guys!


	2. Who died and made you king?

**A/N** Glad you guys liked the idea!

* * *

 **2\. Who died and made you king?**

Left, right, left.

"Final set."

Fiyero grunted in response and swung his left arm out whilst trying to keep his right arm close to his chest. His knuckles ached on impact as he pounded against the leather punching bag. The Gale Force trainer braced, and Fiyero pull another set as fast as his aching arms could swing them.

"Alright, we're done for today." The trainer commanded, and Fiyero huffed, trying to catch his breath. "Nice work, Tiggular. A little tough on that last set though. Rough week?"

The vinkun rolled his shoulders, and began some light stretching. Sweat rolled down his cheeks and the heat seemed to be coming off of his body in waves – the autumn did little to cool the musky gym. It didn't help that there were two other GF agents doing sprint sets by the cardio space where they usually did the morning yoga sessions.

He pulled his arm across his chest and groaned, "Rough doesn't even begin to cover this week."

"Oh yeah?" His 6 foot tall, Filaanian trainer grunted as he gestured at Fiyero to remove the gloves from his fists. "Usually I wouldn't give a shit, but you caught me on a good day."

Fiyero laughed stonily and tossed the bulky boxing gloves at the man, moving on to slowly unwind the sport tape from his hands. "You heard about my new assignment?"

"Cherrystone. ECPD Precinct 9. I'm surprised, really. You're usually on RICO cases. Working with the ECPD is as bad as a demotion." He guffawed, the sound of his low baritone was suddenly irritating to Fiyero. "What did you do? Screw up your paperwork on your last case or something?"

Fiyero refused to entertain that comment with a response, and dropped the tape on the ground for the trainer to pick up, not feeling particularly bothered by the glare his trainer was giving him.

"I'm heading for the showers."

* * *

"We've got a hit on our Jane." Boq announced as he brisk walked across the office floor. He plonked himself into the chair next to Elphaba's desk and grinned – obviously feeling very proud of himself at the moment. "Moraan from Vice found out from one of their girls. Our victim's name was _Candle_. Candle von Ferdinand. She's a transient from the Quadling Quarters."

"You do know that it's highly offensive to call it that, right?" Elphaba said with a raised brow. She stopped her typing and turned her focus to Boq.

"Call it what? Quadling Quarters?"

She nodded vaguely. "It's like calling the Diamond district – Gillikin Town."

The munchkin looked genuinely surprised, although it was quickly replaced with worry. "Well damn, I've been calling it Quadling Quarters all damn day. Hopefully Sergeant Miles haven't heard me. Lurline knows he could sit right on top of me and I'll be crushed to death in 5 minutes flat."

"I'm sure the sergeant has better things to do than sit around listening to you blab." Elphaba said nonchalantly and nudged at him. "What else have you got for me?"

It was then that Avaric decided to grace them with his presence, strutting up behind Boq with a wide smirk. "Check it – tyres came back. It's a Wellsvale brand, made for an older series model-T. The good news is that one of the tyre tracks seemed to be a little fucked, so the van's chassis – or at least its drive shaft – must've been fucked too. Makes it easier for us to confirm the vehicle."

"Yeah, that's assuming that the suspect hasn't dumped the van." Boq retorted, which earned him a smack on the back of his head from an embarrassed Avaric. "Oi! The hell did I do?!"

"Ah, children, stop fighting."

Elphaba felt her hairs stand at the sound of that voice. From the edge of her field of vision, Elphaba spotted the man in the black suit. He walked towards them and paused right next to Avaric – who seemed to stand straighter, as if he was trying to dwarf Fiyero.

It would be hard though. Even with his back completely straight and his chest puffed out like an idiot, Avaric still looked like the generic air-headed quarterback standing next to prince charming. There was just something about the way Fiyero was eyeing the rest of the office. Elphaba prided herself on her ability to read the telling signs from a person's behaviour – and Fiyero's general stance in the 2 days that she has known him was that he felt like it was beneath him to be here with them.

Well, it wasn't like they wanted him here anyway.

She could almost feel Chuffery's fatherly glare at the back of her neck even as she thought that. Avaric folded his thick arms across his chest, and suddenly, for the first time, Elphaba noticed that the detective was wearing a tighter cut than he usually wore.

She knew that because his stupid overly developed chest muscles and biceps didn't usually pop out like that when he folded his arms. He must've worn that to upstage Fiyero. Just the thought of that made Elphaba want to burst out laughing.

"We're not your children." Avaric said bitterly.

"If anything, we're Elphaba's." Boq added helpfully. This, again, earned him a smack from a red faced Avaric. Ah, the thing about the pale skins was how easily they flush at a drop of the hat. Much easier to read than Quadlings or Cursed Green people like herself.

"Oi! Enough with that!" the munchkin yelped angrily.

"Then stop saying stupid things!" Avaric growled back.

"For shit's sake," Elphaba rolled her eyes, having lost interest in the two's daily 'banter'. She then turned her attention to the Gale Force agent standing in front of her. She supposed that she was expected to stand when she spoke to him as a general curtesy – Elphaba, of course, decided that she didn't really care all that much for him, so she remained seated.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, knowing full well that he was probably just here to receive a progress report and be on his merry way.

Fiyero was still watching Avaric and Boq bicker at the side, and he had the tiniest of smiles on his lips. He was laughing at them, wasn't he? Making fun private jokes about her people. This only served to make her blood boil, and her eyes narrowed to slits.

"We're here to catch a murderer, aren't we?" He said finally, seemingly having lost interest in Avaric and Boq. "Well, technically my concern is with the Colonel. Murder is more of your domain, isn't it, detective Elphaba – Melana – Thropp?"

The way he said her name was as if he were spelling it out – but what irritated Elphaba was how he knew about her middle name. Nobody knew her middle name, not even Chuffery. She had it removed when she had come of age and joined the academy.

"You've been snooping." She remarked stonily. In her head, she was really just counting back from 10 – an anger management technique that she had picked up from mandatory anger management classes.

Fiyero shrugged lightly, smiling insincerely. "Your family goes way back in Munchkinland, doesn't it? Where was that? Nest Hardings, was it? Beautiful province. I've been there once or twice as a kid. The vine yards are superb. Why would you remove your middle name though? Curious."

"Oh the things I'd love to do to you." She smiled back falsely, feeling her veins popping up from every possible surface on her skin.

"Describe them, please. In detail." He said as he leaned in. He was close enough, now, that she could see the thick lashes that framed his emerald green eyes – she knew a number of women who would've killed to have lashes like his. What a waste of good genetics on a shitbag like him.

Her phone went off, and both their eyes flickered over to the offending machine before flicking back again. This wouldn't be over, she just knew it. Fiyero straightened up while Elphaba took the call – still in disbelief that this partnership had been as disastrous as it has been so far.

" _Detective Thropp. This is the Emerald City District Attorney's office… We have a problem."_

* * *

The call from the District Attorney's office was anything but good news.

Fiyero had the luxury of working without the D.A's office hounding him for most of his cases – if he kept his nose clean. It helped that the Bureau Chief liked him so much – although, not so much after what happened with _her_.

Even with her gone, she's still being a pain in his ass.

…

Sometimes he missed her.

Shaking off the dangerous thoughts, he chose to focus on the fact that he was now in the same car as a certain green-skinned, headstrong detective. Traffic had been terrible from Precinct 9, all the way to the main road. Elphaba sat quietly in the passenger seat, although if anything were to be said about the look on her face, Fiyero could assume that she wasn't very happy about their current arrangement either.

Boq and Avaric were off investigating another lead regarding Candle, their mysterious dead girl. Fiyero and Elphaba were then off to the D.A's office after receiving a call about a potential bump in the road. They refused to elaborate over the phone, and insisted on them coming down to the office.

A few minutes went by without much interaction in the car.

Fiyero had almost felt like he was going insane. He wasn't used to being so completely ignored by someone. He glanced over to Elphaba, stealthily. Her lips were set in a thin frown and she was watching the people on the sidewalk walking by while they were stuck behind a red light.

He peered over to see what she was watching so intensely and noticed that a young gillikinese man was walking suspiciously close to a pregnant vinkun woman. He looked determined, and nervous – while the woman seemed to be whimpering. They didn't look like a couple, not with the way he seemed to be twitching at every little sound and the way her eyes were glancing around – as if to desperately catch someone's eye.

He noticed Elphaba's hands slowly tightening on her jeans, and knew that she was thinking the same thing as him – something's wrong with over there, and if they didn't stop and at least check on that, they wouldn't be sleeping well tonight.

The traffic began to move again and Fiyero quickly swung the car around, startling his passenger.

"W-What in Oz—?!"

The car came onto the sidewalk a little, but he didn't really care right now. The couple was already beginning to disappear from his line of sight. He yanked his door open, instructing hurriedly, "If we hurry, we can still catch up to them."

Elphaba knew immediately, and said nothing else as she quickly released herself from her seat belt and exited the SUV. He surveyed the situation. There were few people walking around today, which meant that there's a lesser chance of mass panic if it came to him having to pull out his gun. The best course of action was of course to avoid being spotted by the man while approaching the couple.

He stepped up in front of Elphaba, leading the way, while at the same time trying to explain his plan. Elphaba, however, had plans of her own as she quickly sped past him and made a beeline towards the potential suspect.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Fiyero hissed lowly as he hurried to catch up to her. His eyes were trained on the couple walking just a little ahead of them.

Elphaba shot him a look, and ignored him. Instead, she shouted over to the couple, "Hey kid! You dropped your wallet!"

The young gillikinese man quickly glanced behind him, his face suddenly set in panic. The vinkun girl attempted to turn around as well, but he yanked at her and she let out a barely stifled cry. The young man cursed softly and glared at Elphaba before attempting to pick up his pace, pulling the girl with him.

"Look what you've done!" Fiyero growled frustratedly. Elphaba glowered at him and pushed past him again.

"I know what I'm doing, _Agent_."

"No – No! You've done enough," he said angrily as he pulled out his gun. There were audible gasps of terror from the few people walking by. The suspect heard them and glanced behind again, this time, the realization finally set in.

"Alright, stop right there – I'm Agent Tiggular with the Gale Force, and this is Detective Thropp from the ECPD—"

The young man spun around, yanking the girl in front of him. She cried out in horror as tears begun to stream down her face.

"Please no…!" She screamed.

The young man yanked at her again, growling at her to stop yapping. He then looked up at the Gale Force Agent who was pointing his gun at him. Next to Fiyero, Elphaba cursed under her breath, noticeably ticked off by him as she quickly unholstered her sidearm.

"I've got a gun! I'll kill her!" The young man shouted nervously as he pulled at the girl to emphasize. She could only scream again. "Shut up, you little—"

"—hey, hey! You don't want to finish that sentence." Fiyero narrowed his eyes. His gun was trained on the man's head. The problem was that the man had his weapon hidden behind the pregnant girl – if he attempted anything but a kill shot, the suspect could still let off a few shots into the girl.

Elphaba cocked her weapon, which visibly unnerved the young man. "It doesn't have to be this way." She said coolly. "We've got two guns trained on you – and I don't know about him, but I'm a _very_ good shot. So, if you know what's good for you, you'll let the girl go and drop your weapon."

"You can't shoot at me." The young man laughed shakily as he quickly revealed his gun, placing the barrel squarely against his hostage's temple. "You shoot me, and I'll bring her down with me."

At this, the girl screamed in fear, sniffling and crying loudly.

Fiyero could only think about how he could possibly get her out without getting her killed. It's been some time since he'd been in a situation like this – having spent most of his career on RICO cases and dealing with mobsters and beardy Filaanian crime lords. He rarely had to deal with pregnant women.

"Do I look like I've got the patience to play with you?" Elphaba narrowed her eyes. Her tone was cold, and for a moment, Fiyero really believed that she might actually shoot him right there and then – and it must've been what the suspect felt as well, because it was easy to notice the flinch when she said that.

"Like I said – I'm a _very_ good shot." She said, "So you either put down that Oz damned gun, or I'm going to put one between your eyes."

His breath was caught in his throat as Fiyero spared a glance at her. There was a 50/50 chance that she might actually do that, seeing the type of person she is, and all he could think about was how _insane_ this woman was.

The suspect looked horrified at what Elphaba said and for a few moments – which honestly felt like eternity – he could only glance between the Agent and the Detective. They were the real deal – or at least – they looked like the real deal.

She was green, which didn't register in his brain until right now. Oh sweet Lurline, he was about to be killed by a freak of nature! Grandmomma was right! The demons are real – and she's pointing a gun right at him!

This wasn't worth it!

He swallowed hard, and slowly let his grip on the girl loosen. She was crying incessantly now as she quickly ran away from him, and towards the male agent, who quickly pulled her into a protective hug. The green freak was still pointing her gun right at his head.

"I let her go – "he said, and his voice shook audibly. "y-you have to let me go too."

"Who said anything about that?" she replied coldly. "Gun on the floor. Hands behind your back."

He swallowed hard. There's nothing for him to do but follow her instructions now. It was that, or get shot. So his fingers loosened around the gun, and with a gentle tilt, the small calibre handgun dropped to the ground with a clank.

The detective wasted no time as she stepped over to him and pulled his arms behind his back, slapping on the cold, metallic cuffs. The sound of the clicks assured that he wouldn't be holding anyone hostage for a long while.

* * *

The ride down to the D.A's office was quiet.

The suspect from before was taken away by some patrolmen who were the first responders to Elphaba's call, and the pregnant girl was taken away by an ambulance. She'd thanked the both of them profusely.

Aside from that, the two said very little to each other.

Fiyero was still trying to figure out his new partner. The only reason they managed to survive today was because the suspect was a giant ball of nerves, and she managed to intimidate the boy into submission. The way she so coldly assured him that she had no qualms about shooting him dead definitely made the frantic boy piss himself a little.

But there are some people in this world who weren't going to be intimidated by her, and when one day when she would finally come across one of those people, she might very well get herself killed – and it was this fact that made him a little angry.

Fiyero exhaled sharply, which seemed to catch her attention.

He glanced over to her with his lips set in a thin frown. "It's not always going to work, y'know?"

"What are you talking about?" She feigned ignorance – he could tell by the way she refused to meet his eye.

"Threatening a suspect." He said in a harsh tone as his jaw clenched. "What if next time it's not some stupid kid? What if next time, it's someone who isn't afraid of you?"

"You don't get to tell me how to do my job," she narrowed her eyes at him. "Who died and made you king of everything?"

"It's not about how you do your Oz damned job, it's about how you're gonna get yourself – and the hostage – killed because your ego's the size of a blimp!"

There was a small twitch in the corner of her lips, which could either mean that she was amused, or incredibly irked. "Oh HA. Speaking, of egos – if you didn't come guns a blazing and declaring to the whole damn street that we're law enforcement, maybe it didn't even _have to_ come to that!"

"And shouting at the suspect to tell him that he dropped his wallet _while_ he has a possible hostage? Of course THAT didn't contribute to blowing our cover?" Fiyero gritted his teeth as he made a sharp turn. The sound of the tyres skidding across the road was too loud to ignore.

"Wizard's ass—"she nearly screeched as her eyes widened impossibly. "Did they ever teach you how to drive at the oz damned Gale Force?!"

"Well for one thing, we're _not_ supposed to drive _angry,_ now ARE we?" He rolled his eyes dramatically as he took another turn, this time, it was smoother. "MY car, MY rules."

"I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore." She said with finality as she began to yank at the car door. Frantically, Fiyero quickly pushed the button to lock the doors, completely astonished by how _insane_ this woman was.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" He yelled with his eyes wide in horror as he attempted to multi-task.

Elphaba continued to yank at the door, her face scrunched in anger. "GETTING OFF THIS OZ DAMNED DEATH MOBILE."

"YOU'RE GOING TO GET US BOTH KILLED."

"AT LEAST I'M BRINGING YOU DOWN WITH ME."


	3. Enter the pretty blonde

**A/N I'm really flattered and appreciative for all the support! And don't worry about Elphaba. She's a little tightly wound, but it's just because _someone_ seems to have a supernatural ability to get under her skin for some reason... :P Keep the reviews coming!  
It's always fun to read what you guys have to say!**

* * *

 **3\. Enter the pretty blonde**

Lawyers surrounded them.

They were all of different races and genders, but they all gave off the same stand-offish vibe. As much as she disliked the Agent standing next to her, Elphaba disliked lawyers more. They would always twist and mangle her words, turning what she said into something else entirely. And the way they would nit-pick – oh the way they nit-picked!

Just being in the same room as a lawyer made her sick.

Fiyero didn't seem too comfortable being in the lion's den either. He had his hands shoved in his trouser pockets and his eyes were darting around the lobby while they waited for the lift. A few seconds into waiting, an overly energetic voice came from behind them.

Distinctly female, and several octaves higher than Elphaba was comfortable with.

"Fiyero! What are you doing here at the D.A's office?"

They turned around and came face to face with a petit blonde. She had the sweetest smile and bluest eyes she had ever seen – even more so than Avaric's, and he came from a fairly pure gillikinese bloodline. Her hair was bunned up neatly, save for the few aesthetic curls she allowed to frame her perfectly symmetrical face.

"Glin!" Fiyero grinned, obviously happy to see a familiar face. He seemed a little stunned when 'Glin' leapt up and pulled him into a tight hug, but the affection was quickly returned. When they pulled away from each other, the blonde turned to Elphaba with a smile.

"You must be Detective Thropp! I've heard so much about you!"

Elphaba felt her eyes widen in horror. "From who?"

It couldn't possibly be Fiyero. They've only known each other for 2 days, and the thought of being discussed just made her stomach flip… Why would he bring her up anyway? It's obvious that Fiyero and this 'Glin' seemed to be close…

"Everyone, I suppose. You've done a lot of great work with the ECPD, and your cases have always been pretty rock solid." The blonde said with a little laugh. She then reached out with her hand, which Elphaba grabbed in a confused daze. "I'm Glinda Upland, by the way. State Prosecutor."

"O-oh hi…"

Glinda's enthusiasm was dizzying to Elphaba. The blonde prattled on about some of Elphaba's cases that she has witnessed in court, and she went on and on about the importance of forging a good working relationship between the lawyers and law enforcement.

And when she was finally done, she reached up to Fiyero for a kiss on his cheek, and she crushed Elphaba in a tight hug from which she could not escape. And then in a blink of an eye, Glinda was gone.

Quite suddenly, Elphaba found herself without any idea how she had managed to end up in the State Prosecutor offices. She didn't even recall stepping into the lift. At least Fiyero seemed to be just as confused as her.

She turned to him with her brow furrowed and her brain in a fritz, "W…what just happened? How did we…?"

"I don't… know." He said finally, emerald green eyes scanning their surroundings. "But it's just something Glinda does. It's very easy to get swept up with her and her bubbly personality."

"Oh."

They fell into an awkward silence, and Elphaba took a step away from him when she suddenly noticed how close they were standing next to each other. Curiosity, however, got the better of her.

"So… You and Glinda?"

Fiyero flushed slightly, which he quickly attempted to hide with a cough.

"U-uh, no." He said awkwardly as he scratched his nose, and cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, we dated a little bit in college."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"It's really none of your business though."

"I didn't say anything."

"I could literally feel your judge-y eyes – it makes my skin crawl." He said as he ran a hand through his perfectly combed back russet hair, like a nervous tick.

Elphaba shot a look at him, "You're saying that I make your skin crawl?"

He paused, and glanced down at her. Something seemed to sit at the tip of his tongue, but he bit it back. Finally, he cleared his throat, "Yes you do."

At this, she rolled her eyes. "Insufferable douche."

* * *

The good news was that the D.A was running late in a meeting, and they had a chance to take a seat while they waited in her office.

When they had finally arrived, Elphaba was overwhelmed by grandness of the room. She had never met the District Attorney in person, but she's seen enough of her in the news. An enlarged version of her official D.A portrait was displayed prominently behind the faux leather seat.

Helen Morrible.

She was a pale skinned, large set woman with a penchant for the dramatic. In most cases, the District Attorney rarely made appearances in the media, but Morrible seemed to bathe in the attention. Her startling blonde hair was done up in a tower of curls – the height giving her an added presence. Amber eyes peered down at them behind her rimless glasses as the portrait smiled widely… A smile that felt a little out of place…

Elphaba could feel the tension coming from the man sitting next to her. Fiyero was making his own observations of the room as well, and while Elphaba was engrossed with Morrible's unsettling portrait, Fiyero was staring at the empty suit of medieval armor that stood in the corner of the room with a worried look on his face – as if he were afraid that it might come to life.

"Ah! Sorry to have kept you waiting."

The Detective jolted – why hasn't she heard Morrible come in? Fiyero seemed a little spooked as well, but he hid it better than Elphaba. The pair stood, and they both reached out to shake Morrible's extended hand.

She was even more overwhelming in person than in portrait. Her face was caked in thick white foundation, and her eyes were powdered with a deep purple shadow. But it was her lips that rattled Elphaba.

It was red.

The shade of fresh blood.

She felt a nudge on her ribs and shot a look at Fiyero, when she realized that she had been staring at Helen's lips quite unabashedly. "Oh, sorry." She apologized awkwardly as she released the District Attorney's hand.

Morrible raised a perfectly drawn brow at her, but said chose not to say anything about it. Instead, she pulled her lips into a smile, and Elphaba felt a shudder run down her spine. There was just something about Helen Morrible that made her uncomfortable.

"Agent Tiggular, and Detective Thropp, am I right?"

Both Detective and Agent nodded.

"Good, good." Morrible nodded and gestured at them to take a seat. Once they were in their chairs again, she continued. "This case regarding Colonel Cherrystone is very important to the government, and we, of course, must do our duty to the great Wizard and the free Land of Oz" Morrible paused to take a sip from her mug of steaming hot coffee that Elphaba hadn't notice was there. "And in saying that, I must inform you that the Colonel's family has received a call from his abductors, and they are demanding a 3 million dollar ransom."

"What?!" Elphaba nearly leapt from her seat when she felt Fiyero's hand holding her down by her shoulder.

Damn it, he was stronger than he looked.

"I think what Detective Thropp meant to ask was why didn't the Colonel's family inform us right away? How old is this information?"

"And why did they go to the D.A's office?" Elphaba asked firmly.

Morrible shook her head, and her face was set in what Elphaba assumed was supposed to be sadness. "I believe that a little background is in order." She said wistfully. "The Colonel and I were good friends when we were younger. We were both up and comers in our fields, and we often attended the same social gatherings. I've become very close to him and his family over the years."

"That's odd, his wife never mentioned you when I interviewed the family." Elphaba commented, she tried really hard to hide the tone of accusation, really.

"She must've been too upset." Morrible sighed. "Abduction of a loved one and all."

"Do they have a recording of the call?" Fiyero asked.

"They did, fortunately."

"Alright, we'll head down to the Colonel's house after this meeting. Is there anything else?" Fiyero raised a brow. Elphaba felt the same way – if this was all Morrible had to say to them, why did she insist on having them rush down to her office when this could've been a 5 minute phone conversation.

"The family's quite distraught right now. And the Colonel is a very important man, both to the government and his family. I've asked the two of you to come by because I'd like to implore that we simply pay the ransom."

"Ma'am." Fiyero's eyes were wide at the implication. "You know that it's Bureau policy not to pay the ransom at any cost. We can't just give in to the criminals. At least, not this early in the investigation. Unless, you could share with us why this seems to be so important?"

"Call this a personal favor." Morrible said with a frown. "We need the Colonel alive, Agent. His life is not yours to risk."

"Personal favor?" Elphaba felt her temper beginning to flare. "Madame Morrible, we can't break the law for you just because you need a _personal favor_. We'll solve this case and we'll bring the Colonel home without having to compromise our integrity."

"Your integrity isn't going to be able to lead our country's armies, Detective Thropp." Morrible narrowed her eyes slightly. "The reason why we need the Colonel back so urgently is on a need to know basis, and you two," she glanced towards Fiyero, "do _not_ need to know."

"Not even with the Colonel's life in the balance?" Elphaba frowned thinly.

"Paying the ransom would be more likely to save his life than an investigation that may drag on for months!" Morrible's amber eyes seemed to bore into Elphaba as she said that. "Pay the ransom, Detective. Or the Colonel's blood – and the blood of this nation – is on your hands."

* * *

When they left the sanctity of the quiet lift, the doors opened up to a lobby full of lawyers scattering around, handing off case files and standing around talking. Fiyero dared a glance at the Detective and watched as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were closed, and it was easy to tell that she was regulating her breaths as a way to calm her nerves.

He'd have to admit, it's been a long afternoon.

"Hey! Finished with that meeting with Morrible?"

The cheerful voice, which was oh so familiar to him, came up to them from down the hall. Glinda's bright smile quickly turned into a concerned frown when she noticed how uncomfortable the two of them were.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

Elphaba exhaled sharply and shook her head, and when Glinda turned to Fiyero instead, he shrugged – not quite sure where to start. Did he really want to tell her that her boss, the District Attorney herself, just threatened them into paying the ransom for Colonel Cherrystone when they were only 2 days into the investigation?

"A bump in the road. The usual politics." He said as he smiled weakly, trying to reassure her. "We'll figure out what to do. Now we're just on our way to our victim's house."

"Oh... Hey, look. You're the best Agent on the Gale Force I know." She smiled, and a dimple appeared on her left cheek, "and you've got Detective Thropp to help you along. She's basically the best Detective in the entire ECPD!"

"Oh no…" Elphaba's eyes went wide and her cheeks seemed to turn a shade darker, which Fiyero assumed was her equivalent of _blushing_.

Huh.

Deep down, he supposed that despite the coarse exterior, Elphaba has her moments.

"Don't be modest! Especially not around Fiyero. Based on his track record, he's really into ladies who're a little more assertive…" Glinda laughed despite his protests, and she nudged at Elphaba, whispering conspiratorially, "and he gets really insecure when women talk really softly to each other in front of him!"

"H-Hey! I can hear you!" He frowned, although without much effect. He wasn't insecure… He just didn't really like it when girls whispered to each other like that. It makes him uncomfortable.

Elphaba raised her brow at him and her lips quirked into a little smile. He was sure that she was simply feeling amused at his expense, but he figured that he rather preferred a _somewhat_ smiling Elphaba to a brooding one.

But it would be up to him to keep Glinda from further bonding with his new – temporary – partner. Lurline knows what kind of embarrassing things Glinda would expose to Elphaba, especially things about him while he was just a stupid kid in college.

"Alright, alright." Glinda laughed and reached over for a quick hug. When she got what she wanted from him, she turned to Elphaba, "We'll have to meet up again soon. Preferably in a more _social_ gathering."

"If you've got more tips on how to tick him off – I'm game." Elphaba said with a small chuckle, uncharacteristically friendly.

Cheerily, Glinda quickly engulfed the green Detective with a hug and Fiyero had to stifle his cackling when he saw the startled look on Elphaba's face at the unexpected embrace. He shrugged when he noticed her narrowing her eyes at him, hoping that maybe this time, he wouldn't have to worry about his passenger attempting to leap out of his car while he was driving.


	4. The Cherrystone House

**A/N In this story, they're all a little older, but not all that much wiser... Enjoy the hijinks ;)**

* * *

 **4\. The Cherrystone House**

The Cherrystone house was situated in a quaint little neighborhood, and it was right in the middle of the cul-de-sac. Music from one of the neighbors' houses spilled out into the street, and a group of kids were riding their tricycles around, screaming and laughing at each other.

Despite the innocence and pleasantness of this image, there were security cameras surrounding the entire cul-de-sac. The quadling gardeners who worked the town were actually employed by the Gale Force, frequent drone fly-overs were scheduled to keep an eye on the place, and every house on this street belonged to either the Director of some convoluted government agency or a ranking officer in the Emerald City Military.

This would be the second time Elphaba had visited the Cherrystones. The first was when she had come over to inform Mrs. Cherrystone that her husband has been abducted, and that the body of a dead hooker was found at the site of his abduction. This, of course, didn't make her presence in the Cherrystone house a very good one.

Mrs. Cherrystone opened up the door, even before Elphaba and Fiyero had even reached the porch. Upon seeing the surprised look on their faces, she shrugged. "You're easy to spot, Detective Thropp."

Elphaba nodded quietly and allowed herself to be led into the sitting area.

Lacey Cherrystone was a short woman of gillikinese decent. Her hair, dirty blonde in shade, was done up neatly – suitable for the wife of a Colonel. She dressed modestly in a pretty floral thing, and she pulled her cardigan closer to her body as she poured them some tea.

The room was silent, save for the sound of the tea being poured out. There were two heavily muscled men in black suits who stood by the door – bodyguards, sent in by the Military high-ups. Their eyes were hidden behind dark shades, and Elphaba was uncomfortable at the fact that she couldn't tell what they were thinking.

"I hope Earl Grey is okay with you, Detectives." Cherrystone said. Her voice carried the weight of her burdens in a single, monotonous stretch.

"It's very gracious of you." Fiyero replied as he humbly accepted the tiny ceramic cup. Seems to Elphaba that he chose not to correct Mrs. Cherrystone regarding his designation, which she wholly understood. It feels rather pointless right now anyway.

Lacey leaned in to take a closer look at Fiyero. He noticed but said nothing… Something told her that he'd experienced this before. After a minute, she pulled back and straightened her cardigan.

"You're vinkun." She remarked blandly.

Elphaba raised at brow at Fiyero, and his eyes darted between her and Mrs. Cherrystone. "Yes I am, ma'am."

She was quiet for a bit, as if she were too tired for this, and sat down gingerly, nursing her own cup of tea. "… Don't mind me." She said. "It's just that… Dane used to talk about your people…"

Fiyero seemed to stiffen slightly, and Elphaba wondered if she should intervene.

A small smile began to spread on Lacey's chapped lips, "He was an enthusiast, I suppose… Some people enjoyed reading about the ancient Kumbric witches, but for Dane… he enjoyed reading tomes upon tomes of old vinkun texts… You'll find that most of the books in his office were studies on your people."

The atmosphere seemed to relax just a bit after Lacey had said that, and from the corner of her eye, Elphaba was sure that she had seen a tug on Fiyero's lips. He took a sip from the cup, and nodded in approval. "This is lovely." He said, and Lacey smiled.

"… Well. I'm sure Helen has told you two about the call." She said as she placed her tea cup on the coffee table. "This family can't function without Dane."

"Yes, she did mention." Elphaba said, and then shifted slightly in her seat. She placed her tea down on the coffee table gently. "Although, I'd hoped that you could've called me first, Mrs Cherrystone…"

"Oh, it's nothing against you, Detective Thropp." Lacey said with an apologetic sigh. Her eyes seemed vacant, however. "Helen is an old family friend… I just thought that maybe with her help, the ECPD could get more resources to find my husband as soon as possible… I understand why you'd be concerned, Detective Thropp. I'm married to a Military man. I understand what it means to… _go over your head_ , so to speak."

"Believe me when I say this Mrs Cherrystone, I'm not someone who concerns myself with things like hierarchy." Elphaba replied simply, it garnered a small laugh from the despondent wife, and she continued in the same tone. "Lawyers will not be able to help when it comes to active cases, especially when it comes to things like abductions and kidnappings. They really just tend to slow down the process."

Lacey Cherrystone seemed slightly amused at Elphaba's dangerous frankness, and Fiyero looked like he might suffer a stroke, staring at her as if she had gone mad.

"I assure you that I'm your best chance to get your husband back alive." She said confidently. "Now, I know that Madam Morrible has suggested paying the ransom, but I'm here to advise you against that. The moment you give them that money, they'll have no reason to keep the Colonel alive."

Lacey Cherrystone became stone-faced. She was holding on to her cup of tea with both hands, but if she tilted it just an angle lower, its contents will spill right over. The room was painfully silent now, and the children playing outside had gone away, so there wasn't even background noise to distract them.

The two bodyguards by the door were like statues, and it didn't even seem like they might even be breathing.

Next to Elphaba, Fiyero cleared his throat, and it shattered the deathly quiet of the room.

Lacey finally spoke.

"I don't know what to do." She said. Her voice was suddenly hoarse, although there were no other indications that she might cry. Elphaba had to applaud her strength.

"Have you got a recording of the call?" Fiyero asked.

The blonde nodded, and she brought them to the front hall. There was a quoxwood table that Elphaba had noticed in her previous visit here, but she paid no special attention to it. Now that she looked at it again, she noticed that it had looked _expensive_ in contrast to the other furnishings in the house… There were scuff marks on the floor which indicated that the table had been moved fairly recently.

The Cherrystones were more well to do than the average family, of course, what with the Colonel's standing… But they were ultimately a military family, and judging from the other furnishings in the house, a simple family, and splurging on a table of all things seemed rather odd.

"Quoxwood?" Fiyero asked Mrs Cherrystone, as if he'd been listening in to Elphaba's thoughts.

Lacey nodded absentmindedly. "It used to be in Dane's office, but we moved it out here when we did some rearranging. He accumulated too many things up there and it was a terrible mess. Barely had room to move around, so I brought it down."

"I see." Fiyero replied with a small smile. "It's fairly expensive, isn't it?"

Lacey shrugged lightly, "I wouldn't know. It was a gift… Anyway, here." She pressed a button on the answering machine and pressed another one to put it on speaker. The machine beeped sharply, and a message began to play out.

" _Dane Cherrystone has been taken and buried alive… You have 3 days to pay the ransom of 3 million dollars cash, which is to be dropped off in the mail bin in the corner of Topez Avenue and Sapphire Street. You will drop the money off by yourself and no one else. If you fail to follow instructions, Dane will die. There will not be a second correspondence_."

* * *

The car was quiet as Fiyero drove out of the Cul-De-Sac.

3 days.

If the kidnappers were for real, then Dane Cherrystone is buried alive somewhere right now, running out of air and waiting for them to find him. A part of him wondered if this could really all end right now if they just let Lacey Cherrystone pay that 3 million, but even as he thought that, he knew how ridiculous he sounded.

3 million dollars was a lot of money, and the Cherrystones – while affluent – were not millionaires, not by a long shot – and in cash no less. Only the people up in the diamond district had that kind of money lying around.

Elphaba was looking out the window with an oddly soft expression on her face, and it was something that he haven't thought he would see from her. He took this chance to observe and noticed that her hair, which was raven black and often tied up in either a bun or a ponytail, might actually be longer than he had first imagined. And her green skin, which had seriously put him off initially, didn't really register in his head now.

"There's something I don't understand," Elphaba said suddenly, and it jolted him back to reality. He struggled to keep his eyes on the road and coughed awkwardly to hide that fact.

"Yeah?"

She turned to look at him and frowned. "The abduction was well planned and well executed… But their choice in victims seems like it was way off target."

"What do you mean?" He asked as he furrowed his brows.

"Cherrystone was a powerful man, but it takes only 5 minutes of research to know that a man like him wouldn't be in possession of 3 million dollars in cash." She said calmly. "They'd be better off targeting an investment banker, or one of those suits from the EC business center."

"Maybe we should see if Cherrystone's got a big paycheck coming in from somewhere," Fiyero suggested. "Can't always assume that they're clean. 80% of the time, they're not… Anyway, what's the munchkin and the blond beefcake got for us? They've been out the whole day too weren't they?"

"The munchkin and the blond beefcake?" Elphaba narrowed her eyes at him. "They're detectives Flanagan and Tenmeadews to you. They earned their shields."

Fiyero chose not to reply to that and kept his gaze straight on the road. He supposed that he deserved that, although he's slowly coming to realize that those two weren't just lackeys to her. It wasn't hard to tell that they were entirely loyal to her, but he hadn't known that she was equally loyal to them.

Most lead detectives don't care all that much for their lower ranked compatriots.

He turned the steering wheel and led them to into the Precinct parking lot, and he could still feel Elphaba's glare on him. She clicked off her seat belt the moment he parked the SUV and climbed out of the vehicle. He followed suit and exhaled sharply, rolling his eyes at her.

"Oh come on, you can't possibly be mad at me for forgetting their names." He groaned as he circled around to her, trying to keep up with her pace as she stormed towards the lift lobby.

She stopped suddenly, and he very nearly bumped into her. She turned around, he could almost smell the faint scent of her shampoo, and when she came face to face with him, he suddenly realized that Elphaba was nearly as tall as he was – just a few inches shorter, which could be taken care off easily with a nice pair of heels.

"I don't care how you people do it up in Happy Gale Force Fancy Land, but down here," she had her brows crushed together angrily, and she waved her arm around at the cold, empty, parking lot, "here in Precinct 9, we're hard working people who got to where we are by doing our jobs well and breaking our backs to see that justice is served."

At this, Fiyero frowned deeply.

"Wait a second. Back it up there – You don't think I worked hard to get to where I am?" He asked bitingly, beginning to feel the anger rise in his chest. "Do you have any idea what it takes to become a Gale Force agent? The initiation, the training, and the kind of assignments we get sent off to? You have no idea what kind of things I've seen."

"Oh look at me, the big bad angsty Gale Force agent." Elphaba scoffed, and then continued in a deep, dramatic voice. " _Have you aaaany idea what it takes to be a Gale Force agent?_ "

He assumed that she was trying to mock him in his voice and he was torn between wanting to laugh at her or roll his eyes.

"I'm not stooping to that." He said as he placed his hands on his hips, gripping his belt tightly. "You wouldn't last 2 days in Gale Force initiation."

There was a light in her eyes when he said that, and he noticed a tiny twitch on her lips – there was something there that he'd love to investigate further, but now was not the time. Elphaba scoffed, and folded her arms across her chest – and it was now that he noticed that she's fairly small in the… _chestal_ region.

"You don't know me." She said seriously, and then finally seemed to notice that his eyes were still down there. "And what do you think you're staring at, you sleaze ball?!"

Fiyero flushed deeply at having been caught, and suddenly his mouth just seemed to move. He found himself scoffing and then smirking at her. "Well, there's not much to stare at."

This finally seemed to send her over the edge as she gasped sharply and – while he anticipated a slap – she punched him in the face and walked away, the sound of her boots hitting the concrete floor reverb-ed in between his ears. He could hear her calling him a dick as she slammed the door to the lift lobby behind her.

Fiyero groaned and winced at the throbbing heat on the left side of his face… For such a skinny thing, she really packed a punch… He'd actually fumbled and nearly fell to the floor had he not had a superior sense of balance.

So much for his fancy Gale Force training…Why'd he actually think that Elphaba Thropp would _slap_ him? _Of course_ she went straight for the close fisted punch in the face.

"Oz _damn_ she's freakishly strong…" He cursed softly and straightened up. His right hand rested on his hip as he touched the spot where she had marked with his left hand, flinching when his cold skin touched the swelling flesh.

Well, it's definitely going to bruise tomorrow.


End file.
